Have a Kenmore Ultrasoft 275 and it softened the water for three years and stopped..I live in Florida where there is high chlorine content, and when the softener stopped giving soft water I noticed a dark brown residue on my water filter going into the house AFTER the water came out of the softener....Softener seems to be cycling through all of its stages, but the water is still hard. ( everything seems to be cycling fine)
Is it reasonable to believe that the resin is bad, and how can I tell when I take it apart? Will it be like mush? Have been told by neighbors that the chlorine kills water softeners down here, but three years?????

Kenmore is one of the cheapest water softeners sold. They do not put the best resin in them so for it to go out in 3 years is not unheard of. To check the resin, get a sample and squeeze it between your thumb and finger. If it smaches up, it's bad.

Well I finally took the head of it off, and although I thought it would be screwed on, it was held with a neoprene type clamp that was held by a large plastic ring....Slowly pulled out the tube and then proceeded to suck out the contents with a shop vac.....The resin was a brown color and the consistency of apple sauce....In fact, it looked exactly like applesauce......The shop vac sucked it all out and then I flushed it with fresh water.....Looks like brand new inside.......Am going to order the resin today and will keep you posted.

Finally got the new resin and I have to admit.....it looked like the old resin that I removed.....but if you put a little of the new stuff on a table top you notice that it rolls around.... tiny beads.....the old removed stuff just lays there....

I then put the tube into the cylinder with a piece of tape over the opening and scouped the resin in....put it all together, backflushed it, and it works great.....